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[INTJ] INTJ's on anti-depressants

thescientist

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Jul 23, 2009
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254
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5w4
I was diagnosed with chronic depression about a year ago. The medication has reduced my anxiety to the point where I'm very nonchalant about things (very unlike my usual INTJ self). I find myself not caring so much about perfection or deadlines or quality (shock!). But this reduction in anxiety helps me deal with my depression.

I feel that underneath it all I'm still an INTJ, but I wonder if the medication is making more INTP? Can medication temporarily change personality type?

The medication is a blessing and a curse at the same time. I love being able to not care! But then I feel disappointed in myself for not caring enough! ugh...

Has anyone else experienced this?
 

Frank

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Mar 13, 2008
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689
I have this ongoing debate with my therapist. Although I slightly favor the E side I can very much slip into the tunnel vision and extreme focus of an INTJ. For me this is when I am at my most creative. My therapist however thinks it is a slight form of obsessiveness that could be regulated with medication. I asked her if it would weaken my natural gifts for focused creativity and she said it would but in her opinion it would be worth it to be more balanced. I called bullshit and told her she was going to have to come up with a more convincing argument for why I need it.
I am no expert but my experience has shown me that N types quite possibly are misdiagnosed more often than others by therapists. When an ENxx is at their most creative they are sometimes seen as slightly manic while an INxx is depressed. This is my theory anyway and I'm sticking to it. It all really boils down to whether or not the trade-off is worth it to you.
 

Halla74

Artisan Conquerer
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Also, be aware that not caring about that which you truly do not care for is a relieving side effect of the meds, but it can also decrease your desire to care about things you DO care about.

For instance, my wife was on SSRIs for 18 months and during that time I basically barely existed in her life. The fact that the meds DID NOT help her anxiety/depression is why she stopped them.

In your case, you seem to be getting relief from the meds, and for that I am happy for you, seriously. I just want to throw out the other end of that spectrum as someone who was affected by it in a similar experience. Just be sure to pay attention to that which you love, especially people.

Good luck and take care. :)
 

Edgar

Nerd King Usurper
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Oct 25, 2008
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sx
I was diagnosed with chronic depression about a year ago. The medication has reduced my anxiety to the point where I'm very nonchalant about things (very unlike my usual INTJ self). I find myself not caring so much about perfection or deadlines or quality (shock!). But this reduction in anxiety helps me deal with my depression.

I feel that underneath it all I'm still an INTJ, but I wonder if the medication is making more INTP? Can medication temporarily change personality type?

You are not an INTP, you are a sedated INTJ.

In turn, a P can have OCD, without turning into a J.

I think it is a big conception to assossiate mental illnesses with mbti types.
 

Feops

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I don't think that "drive" is what differs an INTP from an INTJ.
 

jenocyde

half mystic, half skeksis
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Is anxiety a common INTJ thing?

I don't think you've altered your basic personality. It's still there... Hopefully you can get through these problems and get off the medication sooner, rather than later. :hug:
 

The Decline

(☞゚∀゚)☞
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Medication becomes a crutch quickly. Therapy and self exploration into your issues should be the first line of defense, only falling back on medication when you truly need it. And even then you should not use it for long-term.

That said, I knew an INTJ who was diagnosed bipolar and was tossed around on medications. He ultimately ended medication because they never worked for him.
 

thescientist

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Medication becomes a crutch quickly. Therapy and self exploration into your issues should be the first line of defense, only falling back on medication when you truly need it. And even then you should not use it for long-term.

That said, I knew an INTJ who was diagnosed bipolar and was tossed around on medications. He ultimately ended medication because they never worked for him.

I never even realized I was chronically depressed, because I'd been this way for so long. I was very skeptical and hesitant about taking meds, but my depression got to a point where it was spiraling out of control. I was feeling like a failure all the time (especially by my high standards), not eating, excessively obsessing about information (and feeling like an addict!), etc, not to mention a recent breakup exacerbated the depression even more. So I turned to meds...

I remember the first 2 days on the meds. I could not believe how "normal" I felt. I didn't have this anxious need to perfect everything, to obsessively take in every last bit of information. I even felt like I was less critical about things...more positive. I had NEVER felt this way before in my entire life, which is why I continued taking the meds.

I still fall into depression every now and then, but the anxiety is not there. I've become a lot less organized, caring less at work about things, just unusually care-free...I dunno. I kinda miss my high standards and perfectionist ways. I still excel at what I do, I just feel disorganized in most aspects of my life right now.

Eventually I want to wean off the meds, just not sure when the time is right. I find that problems that come up will depress me quite quickly and easily.

Anyway, just my personal experience and was wondering if other INTJ's on SSRI's experienced similar feelings.
 

The Decline

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Undoubtedly. INTJs hold high standards for themselves.

Interestingly enough, my INTJ friend had an eating problem as well, and the issue of a self-perceived, damning failure.
 

Ted9-3

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I would say so. I was diagnosed with general anxiety disorder about a year or two ago. I hadn't necessarily been stressed, but I have had multiple very bad panic attacks. What did it for me was my inability to stop thinking. Big, unanswerable questions (for example: from a logical perspective, I believe the universe as a whole to be impossible and wonder if even a god could convince me that he knew how it worked) plagued me and I was not able to let go of them. In fact, I'm still not, but I am trying hard to be "in the now." I am on a small dose of lexapro, and I believe it to have helped without changing my personality (although I was afraid of that). In the end, I believe the best cure to INTJ anxiety is a group of ENFP friends. Also, watch David Fincher's Fight Club.
 

Eilonwy

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Oct 12, 2009
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...In the end, I believe the best cure to INTJ anxiety is a group of ENFP friends. ...

Yep. Good, understanding friends always seem to help when I'm depressed or anxious. Mine are ESFJ and ENFJ, but ENFPs would do, too, if I could find some!

The other INTJs that I know have problems with anxiety and depression, so maybe it is common.
 
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A few months ago from my blog:

http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/nt-blogs/8799-searching-former-clarity-17.html#post577723

I do have problems with anxiety and depression. Less so now than before, though under stress my anxiety is amplified. I don't believe that my personality has changed, beyond the fact that I don't actively avoid people (by people I mean anyone human) anymore. Also, I drink a lot less than before and share more stuff with others. The detachment that I described in the blog entry above gradually went away too, and I started becoming more emotionally involved with the people around me. If this constitutes a personality change, I'm glad that I underwent that change.
 

Mr.Time

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Oct 3, 2009
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I was diagnosed with chronic depression about a year ago. The medication has reduced my anxiety to the point where I'm very nonchalant about things (very unlike my usual INTJ self). I find myself not caring so much about perfection or deadlines or quality (shock!). But this reduction in anxiety helps me deal with my depression.

I feel that underneath it all I'm still an INTJ, but I wonder if the medication is making more INTP? Can medication temporarily change personality type?

The medication is a blessing and a curse at the same time. I love being able to not care! But then I feel disappointed in myself for not caring enough! ugh...

Has anyone else experienced this?

I've never been on medication. I feel like I might become addicted after I try them. Why? Because I am always depressed. I hate myself and I can never attain the standards I want to achieve (which are essentially impossible, trust me). I think that most INTJs are doomed to be unhappy with their lives. Although, I can say that the happiest I've ever felt in my life was after speaking with an ENFP girl. I don't know what it was about her, but talking with her for a few hours really made me happy (for a few days).

Later, when my feelings overcame me and I put my heart out to her, she rejected me. This has caused me to be even more depressed than usual. Sometimes (really all the time), I wish I was ....
 

poppy

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Oh, uh, in answer to the OP: :hug:

And in answer to her subsequent question "Are we [INTJs] prone to have high levels of anxiety?": I am prone to a bit of anxiety now and again, but I can keep it in line pretty easily as long as I take care of myself and manage my time well. Nothing out of the ordinary.
 

SillySapienne

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I've never been on medication. I feel like I might become addicted after I try them. Why? Because I am always depressed. I hate myself and I can never attain the standards I want to achieve (which are essentially impossible, trust me). I think that most INTJs are doomed to be unhappy with their lives. Although, I can say that the happiest I've ever felt in my life was after speaking with an ENFP girl. I don't know what it was about her, but talking with her for a few hours really made me happy (for a few days).

Later, when my feelings overcame me and I put my heart out to her, she rejected me. This has caused me to be even more depressed than usual. Sometimes (really all the time), I wish I was ....
I don't know what to say, I'm sorry for your sadness, and persistent suffering.

Life is not easy, nor is love.

But there is still so much to be learned/discovered, so much room for growth, so much ineffable beauty to be seen, felt and absorbed.

:)
 

Mr.Time

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I don't know what to say, I'm sorry for your sadness, and persistent suffering.

Life is not easy, nor is love.

But there is still so much to be learned/discovered, so much room for growth, so much ineffable beauty to be seen, felt and absorbed.

:)

That's an ENFP's perspective and I find it hard to absorb...I am much too rational to believe that life is full of beauty and wonder...it sucks too much in too many places and in too many ways. However, if you were telling me this in person, I don't know, I might actually like hearing you speak. :wubbie:
 

SillySapienne

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That's an ENFP's perspective and I find it hard to absorb...I am much too rational to believe that life is full of beauty and wonder...it sucks too much in too many places and in too many ways.
Life is all about perspective, and, ultimately, life is what you make of it! :)

Although one cannot deny the ugliness, filth, injustice, and sheer perversity inherent to life and the human condition, one can also not deny, or refuse to see the beauty of the universe, its vast complexities and intricacies, nature, in all its infinite forms is, well, fascinating, and, yes, beautiful!

Life is beautiful in its "simplexity"!

However, if you were telling me this in person, I don't know, I might actually like hearing you speak. :wubbie:
:blushing:
 

Cindy

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Jun 26, 2008
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Yes, are INTJ's more likely to be anxious? Or just the ones that consider themselves unsuccessful? I wake up feeling anxious most mornings myself however anxiety is a pattern in my family anyway and I'm only reading this thread because your talking about INTJ's and depression.

I've never taken meds. I went to a psychologist once who said I am mildly depressed but meds would not benefit me. So I am still wondering what normal feels like lol. Or wether he misdiagnosed me cos I'm an INTJ and maybe he didn't realise. We probably do have a lot to be anxious about. Its not easy being an INTJ. And to make it worse for me I am not successful in any of the areas you would expect an INTJ to be. An INTJ without the benefits but all of the cons. Great.

If it helps I'm not on meds but I am still disappointed in myself - for being so apathetic. Maybe if I had of been medicated for my depression years ago my life wouldn't be so off track. Without meds, and not understanding I was suffering depression and anxiety, I self medicated which I think is what led me to a clinical depression, which I then had to recover from. I wonder what my life would of been like without that interuption or a quicker recovery through the use of 'proper' medication.

To get to the point I'm sure this mild depression has prevented me being a successful INTJ and lessened my INTJ-ness. I've had some therapy and feel a lot better about myself. I know what you mean about a long time. I remember being about 5 years old and so overwhelmed by the world that I just wanted to go to sleep.

All the best. At least for me I believe I've got better at dealing with this depression as I've got older and had more experience with it. I am OK with my life.
 
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